Chandlerandreashqp's Blog

Second Section

Part One:

The article “What Is a Research Paper?” by Empire State College addresses what is necessary to have a successful research paper.  In a research paper the writer presents their original argument, and then uses other documents to back up their argument.  In other words,the author builds upon their own knowledge of a subject by expanding it with expert information. The article also addresses the use of arguments, analysis, and the process of writing an essay.    (“What is a,”)

Research writing is the expansion of one’s interests and thoughts.  It is when someone asks a question, and then, documents their findings on how they came up with their answer.  To be a research writer an individual asks questions and seek answers.  A research writer challenges themselves to find an answer to questions that have not been answered before.    To start writing a research paper the author must first address the question in which you would like to have answered.  To develop this question an individual must find something or someone in which they are interested in.  After that, they can then evaluate, and discover what is different or of intrigue to investigate and then document about.

My philosophy on research writing is a simple one.  Find a subject that is of interest to the writer, ask questions, and then record the answer to the question for others to see.  Research involves work.  If the question does not interest the researcher, they will not want to do the work involved in finding the answers.  I also feel a research paper involves information from the author of the paper.  Whether interviews, original questionnaires, or personal experience, the author influences the outcome of their research paper.  My goal as a research writer is to provide new information that has not been documented or noticed before

Part Two:

The Purdue Owl describes two main genres of research writing.  These are argumentative and analytical.  In an analytical reasearch paper the researcher begins by asking a question.  When the researcher answers his question it is not their purpose to argue one side of the argument or the other, but to convey their “critical interpretation” of the information.  In an argumentative research paper the researcher answers their question in hopes of persuading the reader.  An argumentative paper should have a controversial topic that can be debated.(Baker, & Brizee, 2010)

In the process of writing my research I have considered writing about two questions.  The first of these questions is, “How does the increase of staffing Registered Nurses affect patient care and cost efficiency in Assisted Living Facilities?”  This question addresses the idea of a correlation between staffed Registered Nurses and the degree of care a patient receives at an Assisted Living facility.  I chose this question because of a new interest in an article I had come across in one of my nursing classes.  This article addresses the idea that if a Nursing Home hires either a Nurse Practitioner or a Physician Assistant patient care and cost efficiency increase.  With this new knowledge I began thinking about the assisted living facility that I worked at and what staffing changes could be made there.  To answer this question I would use an argumentative approach to persuade my audience to see my ideas as practical.  To complete my research to compile my research article I would use personal experience along with current articles to form a hypothesis on how an increase in educated staffers in a health care facility would increase care.

The second question is,”How has my experience working in an Assisted Living show the ethics and values taught throughout the nursing profession?” In this question I would like to compare what I have learned in clinical, to what I learned in the Assisted Living facility and bring attention to a need to teach the values of nursing to all patient caregivers in the healthcare field.  To write this article I would use an argumentative approach to persuade my readers to understand the importance of my experience and what I feel should be done to correct the problem.  I would use personal experience to research this article and also use current articles to back up my ideas and findings in the Assisted living facility. 

Part Three:

Critical Reading:

In the article Critical Reading Towards Critical Writing the author asks the reader to think critically about the texts they are reading.  In other words to ask questions about the information they are reading to gain knowledge and understanding of the texts.  The article also explains how to judge what the authors purpose is in writing the information.  Also covered is practical tips on the critical reading process.

In the article What is Critical Reading? the author summarizes the importance of knowing the difference between facts and interpretations made by the author.  The article also states the three modes of analysis used in critical reading. Finally, the article covers the goals and the tools of critical reading.  This article focuses on the authors petrayal of the information presented in their works.

Reference

Knott, D. (n.d.). Critical reading towards critical writing. Retrieved from http://www.writing.utoronto /advice/reading-and-researching/critical-reading

Kurland, D.J. (n.d.). What is Critical reading. Retrieved from http://www.criticalreading.com  /critical_reading.htm

Cornell University’s Evaluating Sources (2009) breaks down the evaluation process into two main steps.  Then, from those steps, the process is broken down even farther into several more components of each step.  The first step, the initial appraisal, is the process of evaluating the source  before the reader begins to the look at the source for credible information.

Components of Initial Appraisal:

1. Author

2. Publication Date

3. Editions or Revisions

4. Publisher

5. Title of Journal

All these Components can help the reader to know if the document is a credible source of information before they begin to read the piece.

The second step, content analysis, is the actual evaluation of the document of information.

Content Analysis:

1. Intended Audience

2.Objective Reasoning

3.Coverage

4. Writing Style

5.Evaluating Reviews

These components help the reader to judge the piece of information as to whether the information is what is needed from the reader.

Last Ormondroyd, J. (2009, September 1). Critically analyzing information sources. Retrieved from http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill26.htm

In the Article, Critical Evaluation of Information Sources (2009) from the University of Oregon, covers the steps of evaluating the credibility of a source but also shows the importance of critically evaluating your source of information.  For example the article states,

• “In the mid-1990s, a story started circulating around the Internet about the Oregon Department of Transportation’s attempts to use dynamite to dispose of a dead whale carcass. This story happens to be true, incredible as it may seem, although it happened in 1970.
• Also in the mid-1990s, a physics professor named Alan Sokal submitted a nonsense article to Social Text, a peer-reviewed journal of cultural studies, which subsequently published the article. He revealed the prank soon after in another journal.
• A web site that appeared to be sponsored by the Mankato Area Chamber & Convention Bureau extolled the various area attractions, which included whale watching on the Minnesota River (okay, let’s just think about that one for a minute). In reality, the web site was created in 1999 by a professor at Mankato State University to underscore the importance of critically evaluating information found on the Internet (2009).”

The Article then breaks down what questions to ask, and then how to answer them.

Collen, B. (2009, May 19). Critical evaluation of information sources. Retrieved from http://libweb.uoregon.edu/guides/findarticles/credibility.html

The sources of information I have used so far in my research project process have all been credible and valid sources of information.  Most of them come from the writing labs of several Universities.

 1) How can an annotated bibliography help you write the intro and lit review sections in your own paper?

A) They allow the writer to demostrate what content will be in their paper and also that their information is credible

2) How do you know if your sources from your anno bib are reliable, valid, timely, and unbiased?

A writer knows by only using sources used by pear reviewed journals that are within the last five years

Part Four:

According to Hacker (2009),”Most writing assignments in the social sciences are either reports of original research or rewiews of the literature written about a research topic.  Often an original research report contains a ‘review of the literature’ section that places the writer’s project in the context of the previous research….You face three main challenges when writing a social science paper that draws on written sources:(1) supporting a thesis, (2) citing your sources and avoiding plagiarism, and (3) integrating quotations and other source material.” (p.415)

Hacker’s “A Writer’s Reference” (2009) breaks down the goals of writing within the APA format.  Also it guides the reader through the appopriate way of writing a Research Paper.  From writing a thesis to supporting the authors argument the reader begins to understand how to go about writing their research.  The Book also shows examples of citing research in APA format and formatting documents in APA. (p. 415-459)

“Basics of APA Style Tutorial” (2010) gives a step-by-step overview of writing and citing in APA format.  The Tutorial also shows examples of all aspects of writing a research paper.  Also included, is identifying and reducing biases in writing.  I like this tutorial because it walks you through the process and gives a step by step account of how the process should be done and what the researcher should be considering.

Formatting is important because it holds the author accountable for the information they are providing.  Both these articles show the importance of writing with appropriate citations.

Part Five: